This month on Metawatch, our events guru Steve wanted to feature aelven armies. With the Broken Realms series in full swing, and Morathi and Teclis featuring heavily in the first two books, the Daughters of Khaine and the Lumineth Realm-lords were the obvious choices. He sent his minions to the realms of Ulgu and Hysh to find some suitably dedicated followers to enlighten us, and they returned with two of the very best – Chuck T. Moore and Les Martin – who join us now.
Steve: Hi there, Chuck, and welcome to Metawatch. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Chuck: Hey everyone, I’m Chuck T. Moore from Strength Hammer, and I’m here to discuss my beloved Daughters of Khaine. I hope you’ve been hitting the gym, painting your armies, and are ready to offer a healthy heart to Morathi-Khaine!*
Ever since the Daughters of Khaine were unleashed upon the Mortal Realms, I have been entirely devoted to Morathi and her followers. Their zealotry for murder and blood mixed with shadowy manipulations and schemes is everything I want in my army and its lore.
Steve: Can you give us an overview of the Daughters of Khaine army? Do you think it appeals to a certain style of gamer?
Chuck: At its bloody heart, the Daughters of Khaine want to send their many deadly units to cut through the enemy ranks after boosting said units with many exceptional buffs. Whether it’s pushing around twisted warriors, such as the Melusai, commanding hordes of infantry, or building an MSU** style army, I think there is something for everyone within this faction.
Steve: The original battletome was one of the first to include sub-factions and allegiances. Are there any key changes to these that players should look out for?
Chuck: While allegiance abilities for the army have not changed, there has been an update to a number of our most useful abilities and spells, such as Witchbrew and a change in the wording for synergies so they are now ‘wholly within’.
The army boasts six sub-factions that enhance army lists and help to point (but not push) you into a theme. Traditionally, Hagg Nar has been the key temple when playing the army at a competitive level, but in the updated battletome, there are more solid options than ever. Here’s my take on what I think will be the top three:
- Hagg Nar will still provide a strong defensible force with a command ability that lets your Cauldrons of Blood keep pace with your Witch Aelves or Sisters of Slaughter, as well as boosting Fanatical Faith to a 5+ for more resilience.
- While the Kraith are often viewed as a weaker temple, there is no doubt that they can be a contender. The Disciples of Slaughter ability really keeps your opponent on edge at the end of every combat phase!
- Lastly, we have Khelt Nar, which have grabbed my attention and done well for me on the tables in recent games. The entire army can retreat and charge. Combined with the ability to run and charge on the Witch Aelves and Sisters of Slaughter, and the high movement of the rest of the army, you’ve got some astonishing flexibility. You also have a summonable Khinerai unit to bring in to grab exposed objectives.
Steve: Hag Queens have always been key parts of many Daughters of Khaine armies. Are they still just as important in the new battletome?
Chuck: I certainly think so. Whether on foot or riding a Cauldron of Blood, they are essential for providing Witchbrew and additional buffs to your units. It is worth noting that Witchbrew is no longer automatic, but requires a dice roll (although this gets easier as the Hag Queen gains abilities from the Blood Rites table) and the unit they are buffing now has to be wholly within 12″. While this feels a bit restrictive, in practice this is not the case, and I have had several games where even a missed Witchbrew wasn’t the end of the world as I passed rolls for other buffs to one of my key units.
If you’re a fan of Melusai, you now have two options (the Bloodwrack Medusa and the Melusai Ironscale) for your general to unlock both Blood Stalkers and Blood Sisters as Battleline units in your army.
I also must mention Morathi-Khaine and the Shadow Queen. Their ability to be a strong anvil and a key buffing piece to any style of army is awesome. They also fit into any army and are an immediate force multiplier.
Steve: What are your thoughts on the new endless spells and Invocations?
Chuck: I think they are one of the best updates and I can see a use for them all in various situations. However, the one I keep finding myself including in almost every list is the Bloodwrack Viper. With its fanged strike, it can easily remove even multi-Wound models.
An additional benefit I have found with this model and its larger base size is having Morathi-Khaine cast it directly in front of her to block an opponent without the worry of the spell being used against you in future turns.
Steve: You’ve spent quite a bit of time with the new book now. Can you give us an example of your current favourite list with an overview of how it works and any key play points?
Chuck: Having playtested the book and played a fair amount of hands-on games with the battletome, I’ve found one temple – Khelt Nar – that I keep returning to whenever I’m aiming to compete for the top spot at an event.
Chuck: In this list, the Shadow Queen is the anvil. She can retreat and charge to wherever she is needed, while Morathi-Khaine sits back to buff nearby units and toss out the Bloodwrack Viper to block up lanes of attack. Morathi-Khaine can also command the Blood Stalkers to shoot again in the hero phase – even a Mega-Gargant will learn to fear their damage output.
The list can get where it needs to be, control the board, and put out more than enough damage even if I miss one of my key buffs. You can also sit back, pop the Bleed the Mind command ability, and watch opposing horde units destroy themselves.
It’s a great feeling knowing that Khelt Nar isn’t the only temple I can win with, and I look forward to finding new lists with every temple as I explore this exceptional battletome.
Now we turn our attention to another aelven army that’s gotten a massive update just recently.
Steve: Hey Les – welcome to Metawatch. Can you give us a quick introduction and let us know why you’re such a big fan of the Lumineth Realm-lords?
Les: My name’s Les Martin, and I’m a proud member of the Faithful playtest team and a big fan of all things Order, especially the awesome Lumineth Realm-lords! Initially, I was drawn to them because of Teclis. I loved him in the World-that-Was, and his Age of Sigmar incarnation is ace. His Archmage ability allows him to cast spells automatically – and if you only cast one, it can’t be unbound.
Steve: What has the army gained from the new update to the battletome?
Les: When the Lumineth were first released, the army felt and played like a classic military force, with static infantry to take advantage of the shining company rule, backed up by powerful magic, excellent shooting and cavalry to harass the enemy.
With the new battletome, the Lumineth have gained some fast cavalry (great at picking and choosing when to engage the enemy), new powerful and fast Heroes, and some classic infantry to deal with hordes in the Bladelords. Check out their Flurry of Blows fighting style.
Steve: The Lumineth has a range of magical spell lores to draw from, along with some flavourful Great Nations. How do you see these being used in the army? Are they essential, or do you think that they are there to enhance the theme of the army?
Les: I think the new spell lore complements the existing lores very well. I can see a use for each of the spells, but the addition of a teleport spell in Transporting Vortex or Calming Zephyr for its healing ability really give the Lumineth a toolbox for every situation now.
The existing Great Nations, like Ymetrica, are still really useful and continue to enhance some of the new models. I think the Helon Great Nation being used with an army of Windchargers could be good – Gale of Killing Shafts grants them an extra missile attack when in combat. While this is situational, it’s fantastic when you win priority and double turn your opponent when locked in combat.
The Windchargers are Hurakan models as well, so pay close attention to how you move and pile in around the enemy to maximise your abilities while limiting what the enemy can do back to you.
Steve: Alongside the new books there is a plethora of new models to add to the Lumineth force. Can you pick three that you consider standouts?
Les: I think all of the new releases have a place in specific builds although the standout three for me have to be the Loreseeker, the Vanari Lord Regent and Windchargers.
- The Loreseeker has a unique ability to claim objectives and can be very strong on the defensive. With a 2+ save, if he is set up in cover and his objective capturing abilities, he’s been a big part of all my lists so far.
- The Vanari Lord Regent is a fast close-combat Hero that has a great warscroll spell to boost nearby units.
- And finally, the Hurakan Windchargers. In an army that activates two units at once, these versatile warriors open up some real tactical opportunities.
Steve: With everything you have mentioned, do you have a list that you can share with us?
Les: I certainly do. I’ve based it around the popular Auralan Legion warscroll battalion. This gets you to a five-drop army which should allow you to get the first turn most of the time. Even if you end up going second, you have the speed to react to what your opponent does.
Les: I’ve included the new Vanari Lord Regent, due to his Greater Power of Hysh warscroll spell. As I mentioned above, the ability to pick D3 units for Sunmetal Weapons is great. It also allows the core troops to use the spells of Hysh instead of casting Sunmetal Weapons on themselves, which can give you some interesting flexibility.
This then frees up Teclis to really utilise the toolbox of the three spell lores available to him. I’ve included the Scinari Loreseeker for his objective-capturing abilities and a unit of Bladelords to act as bodyguards. I see the Loreseeker capturing objectives on his own against armies with minimal mortal wound output to take advantage of his Lone Agent rule. When playing against armies that can dish out lots of mortal wounds, the Bladelords can circle him on an objective to allow them to use their Guardians ability to soak up the mortal wounds directed at him.
If your enemy pays too much attention to the Loreseeker, it allows Teclis and the Auralan Sentinels to cast spells and pick off key pieces of the other army. If your opponent focuses on Teclis instead, the Loreseeker will rack up massive objective points! It’s always good to try and force your opponents into making difficult choices when playing games.
Our thanks go out to both Chuck and Les for the insight. Hopefully, you’ve got some new ideas kicking around, or maybe you’ve just realised you need to make some plans to deal with them in your next tournament. Head to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Facebook page and share your excitement – or concern – with us.
* Chuck became one of our esteemed Warhammer Heroes for the work he did to encourage members of the global Warhammer community to get involved in fitness and become more healthy.
** Multiple Small Units (MSU) is just a term for an army list based around taking only the minimum unit size, and lots of them.